How to bring an NBA game to India

Blah blah blah there's a lockout going on blah blah No telling when the NBA will return blah blah this is all very pointless blah blah blah

Just wanted to get the lockout-induced existential crisis out of my system.

During my summer of lockout discontent of being deprived of America's (and the world's) finest basketball league, two other events occurred in different parts of the world. These events were unrelated, but together, they can combine to make a dream come true for an Indian NBA fan: bringing an NBA pre-season game to India, and if the lockout doesn't allow that, bringing NBA stars to play an exhibition game here, much like they have been planning for other countries in their All Star World Tour.

Event 1: On July 23-24, 2011, some of the NBA's finest players, including Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, and Chris Paul, were invited to play an exhibition game in Philippines against the Philippines 'Smart Gilas' national team and against the all stars of the Filipino league. Because the NBA was in lockout, Kobe, Rose etc were there not representing the league but were instead on hire by a wealthy Filipino Manuel V. Pangilinan. I learnt most of the best information about this historic event in the basketball-crazed country from a fantastic Grantland article by Rafe Bartholomew.

Event 2: This took place much closer, in time and in space, to us Indians. Having prepared our first ever international Grand Prix racing circuit - the Buddh International Circuit in Noida - the first ever F1 race, the Indian Grand Prix during the weekend of October 28-30, 2011. Somehow, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), and a private company called the Jaypee Group, were able to host perhaps the most technologically-advanced sport in the world in India and host it pretty damn smoothly.

So this is what I started thinking. If a country like the Philippines (similar to India in many ways) can bring in NBA stars, and India can bring in a major sporting event like an F1 event (similar to an NBA event in several ways), why can't someone combine the two and bring an NBA event to India?

First, let's talk about how these events took place: The Philippines All Star game was made possible because of the vision of one very rich Filipino businessman, Manuel V. Pangilinan, who because of his cool initials is also known as MVP. He is a telecommunications mogul in the Philippines, and more important for our story, a HUGE basketball fan. The Philippines, in general, are filled with a basketball craze like no other, perhaps matched by craze us Indians have for cricket.

So what does MVP do? He brings together nine NBA players free from NBA obligations to his country, and pays them around $400,000 dollars each for the weekend (speculative sum, the exact amount was not revealed). The infrastructure in the country's capital of Manila wasn't going to be much of an issue because of the country's history with the game. MVP's trump card in this event was the ticket price: the Grantland story I mentioned above states: To ensure a packed house, the organizers deliberately kept ticket prices low. Courtside seats were sold at the box office for $129 and general admission tickets for about $8.. Patty Scott, CEO of an American company that worked with MVP in organising this event, said: "This wasn't about making money. It was about MVP's legacy and giving Filipinos a basketball event they've always dreamed of."

Now, NBA players have been to play exhibitions in many countries before, why is this Philippines parallel important? This is because the Philippines is a country much like India in the mixture of growth and chaos, in affluence and in poverty, in ambition and in corruption. So, it is a country where private organisations can achieve what the less organised/corrupt government-run things may not be able to.

Sound familiar? India is the goddamn KING of private-based success. Our software, outsourcing, telecommunications, education, infrastructure, and so many other fields have mostly thrived despite the government, not because of it. When the government tried their best to give a recent world-class sporting event, they gave us the Commonwealth Games. When a bunch of non-government organisations tried to do it, they organised the near-flawless Indian Grand Prix.

Which brings us to our second event. If the Philippines had MVP making basketball dreams come true, India had Jaiprakash Gaur (Chairman of Jaypee Group), Vicky Chandok (President of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India - FMSCI), Vijay Mallya (Chairman FSMCI, owner of India's 1st F1 team Force India, and the man behind everything that Kingfisher does - from beer to airlines to hot women). The Jaypee Group invested the money in building the track and hosting the Grand Prix. The FMSCI brought the organisational expertise. Both had the clout to attract their rich sponsor friends.

Learning from the Commonwealth Games fiasco, the F1 organisers kept the media at bay until the last moment, and thus, didn't allow them to critisize the negative points before celebrating the positives. Its not like there weren't glitches suffered. Some complained of dust, some laughed at the stray dog who wandered on the track during an official practice session. But in the country of the CommonWealth Games, in the state of Mayawati, we had a track completed in time, matching all the safety conditions and afterwards, garnered high praise from the world's best drivers.

F1, like the NBA, has been reaching out into Asia: both sporting bodies have realised the profits that Asia's great population and growing spending power can bring. F1 Racing is a rich man's sport, with rich drivers, rich manufactures, rich sponsors, and rich fans. NBA Basketball rich, too: rich players, rich owners, rich sponsors, but what separates the two is the fans - since basketball can be played anywhere with any type of arrangement, unlike the expensive racing world, anyone can be a basketball fan.

Watching the two sports in their arenas, though, is a slightly pricier affair. In India, there were about a 95,000 rich F1 fans at the race on Sunday, with basketball being a sport for the common man and all, will we be able to bring in enough people to fill in an arena to watch NBA stars? Or will the organiser in India do what MVP did in the Philippines: keep the ticket price low to satisfy the common Indian fan. The problem of course is that the common sports fan in the Philippines is likely to be a basketball lover to the core, while the common sports fan in India will recognise Sachin Tendulkar's back before recognising Derrick Rose's face. Unlike MVP, who wanted to satisfy the average Filipino to build his legacy, it may seem fruitless to an Indian organiser to do the same in India if there just aren't that many people craving for the sport. Unless, of course, the organiser is completely nuts about basketball and also really, really, very, extremely, crazy rich.

Even though basketball is a far more accessible sport than motor-racing, F1 does have a head start to the NBA in India The F1 has an Indian connection: Indian racers Narain Karthickeyen and Karun Chandhok participate amongst the top drivers in the world, and India has its own F1 team - Force India - owned by Vijay Mallya. Maybe NBA in India will be a better idea if an Indian player makes it to the NBA first, and/or an Indian owns an NBA team. The second part of this is already kind of true: look up Vivek Ranadivé, the Indian part-owner of the Golden State Warriors.

Overall, both the F1 in India and the NBA stars in The Philippines proved that world class, glamorous, and potentially-complicated events can be held in developing countries as long as we find the correct mixture of a lot of passion and a lot of money. India has people passionate about basketball and yes, we now have a lot of rich people off private empires. All that is left to do is find someone with the right combination of the two.

Now of course, the NBA will not always be in lockout, so the MVP-model in Philippines may not be necessarily carbon-copied. What I hope for is a pre-season/exhibition game, between any two NBA teams in India (I'd prefer Knicks-Heat, but any two would do, really... Because of the Ranadivé connection, a Warriors game makes sense.) NBA preseason games have already been held in different parts of Asia over the last few years, including China, Japan, and Taiwan. If Bernie Ecclestone, the President/CEO of F1 Management, could be romanced by the idea of the opening his company further in the NBA market, then NBA Commissioner David Stern should think about it too. After all, NBA promotion has already been running at full speed for the last few years in India: tying up with a private Indian organiser to build an arena that is satisfactory to NBA needs, and then keeping the costs relatively low for the Indian fans (Is that really possible thought?) will be the key to fulfilling the dream of our first NBA exhibition game here.

Yes, I'm a big NBA fan in India, who dreams of seeing this happen because of my love for the game. But there is one other reason. When the Indian F1 race on Sunday was won by Germany's Sebastian Vettel, he was handed the trophy by none other than Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and the world's most feared woman, Mayawati. Trust me, I would give at least half a limb to see the great Behenji and Kobe Bryant in the same frame.

Please make this dream come true. If you're a basketball crazy Indian multi-millionaire, you need to contact me. Now.

China win U16 FIBA ABC; India impress but finish at 10th place

At the recently concluded 2nd U16 FIBA Asia Basketball Championship, in Nha Trang City, Vietnam, India's Youth side finished at an unflattering 10th place out of 16 participants. The final standing was no improvement to our standing at this competition two years ago, where we had finished 10th too.

And yet, the players and coaches who represented the country in Vietnam, and the fans who followed their every move, couldn't help but feel a sense of optimism about India's incredible performance. Impressing opponents and fans alike with their considerably improved play, India, perhaps for the first time on the Asian stage, have given a warning with their performance about the things to come. As this current crop of talented youngsters grow up, and more are added to the system, Indian basketball has definitely taken a step in the right direction.

But first: respect must go to the tournament's eventual champions, China, the most dominating and the only undefeated team at the championship. China continued their dominance in the final of the tournament as they blew past Korea 92-52 for their second consecutive gold medal of this competition on Friday.

China had an air of invincibility about them as they went about their business against a potentially tricky opponent in the final. Zhou Qi of China had a final to remember, scoring a tournament-high 43 points to lead his side to a 40-point victory, 16 of which came in the second quarter which opened the gap between the two sides.

Korea’s best player on the night was Hae Hoon, who pitched in 19 points for his side that had to settle for the silver medal.

The finalists China and Korea have both qualified for the 2nd U17 FIBA World Championship which will be held in Kaunas, Lithuania, in 2012.

Earlier in the day, Japan defeated the Phillipines with a disciplined effort 94-81 to claim the bronze medal. Japan were led on the scoresheet by Dalki Kaneko (25 points), Yusel Sugiura (21), Yudal Baba (17), and Kelta Shinkawa (16).

India's coach Jai Prakash 'JP' Singh did not use a fixed starting lineup for the eight games his side played, giving the most amount of minutes to Ajay Pratap Singh, Loveneet Singh, Rakesh Sangwan, Narender Satyawan, Satnam Singh Bhamara, and Karthickeyan Saminathan.

India were grouped in the Preliminary Stage of the tournament with China, Malaysia, and Chinese Taipei. It was international baptism by fire for most of the Indian players as they were caught in the Chinese roller coaster, losing 27-64 in their first game to the tournament's eventual champs. China were bigger, faster, and more experienced than the Indian side, which featured only one player - seven-foot-one, 15-year-old Punjabi phenon Satnam Singh Bhamara - with any major international experience.

But the tournament only improved for India after that: in their second game against Malaysia, India started hot to thrash their opponents, 93-40. India were led by Karthickeyen Saminathan (18 points). Loveneet Singh accounted for 8 points in the first quarter to lead the Indian charge and went on to score 16 points. Ajay Pratap Singh contributed 17 points, 5 of them coming in the first quarter. And in limited time of just one quarter, Satnam scored 16 points.

In the final group game, India pulled off one of the major upsets of the tournament, clocking a memorable 73-52 victory against Chinese Taipei. India shut down Taipei early in the game, and then rode the three-point prowess of Ajay Pratap Singh (25) and Karthickeyen Saminathan (18) to prevail. India's improving defense was a major cause of this win, something that coach JP Singh noted in his interview with FIBA.com. The win helped India finish at 2nd place in their group.

In the tournament's Second Round, India were slated to face three tough teams: Lebanon, Korea, and Iraq, and despite strong efforts in all three games, India couldn't find a single victory. A loss in a loss in any language, but playing against teams that are used to defeating us by 30 points and then holding them to near-even terms shows the improving stature of the Indian side. After a close game in the first half, Lebanon's offense finally broke free from India's stingy defense and rode their way to a second round vicory, 77-65. Jimmy Salem led the scoring for Lebanon and the game with 22 points with Gerard Hadidian contributing 20 points, his third successive 20-or-more score in the competition. Albert Zeinoun had 21 points. India were led by Loveneet Singh, who had 16.

One of India's high-points of the championship was their loss to eventual runners-up Korea: Satnam Singh Bhamara finally broke free and scored 41 points (second highest individual score in the tournament), keeping India tied with the Asian powerhouses up till the start of the fourth quarter! Korea's Heo Hoon, who sat out the entire first quarter nursing a painful ankle, made an entry midway through the second and went on to lead Korea’s scoring with an all-round 31 points. Level at 47 at the end of the third, Korea opened a 19-10 blitz in the first five minutes of the final quarter. Heo had 14 of his points in the fourth quarter. Kim Gookchan had 18 points.

Satnam continued his inspired run against Iraq, as he once again dominated the post for 32 points. India started off well again, but Iraq came into their stead in the second quarter to take a lead and not give it up again. India stayed close throughout, however, and leveled the scores in the final period after free throws by Kushmeet Singh, but Iraq's Ahmed Razzaq (27) scored a couple of clutch baskets to give his team the eventual 72-64 win. Karrar Hamzah added 21 for Iraq.

Because of these losses, India failed to qualify for the Quarter-Final stage and had to settle for 9-12 place playoffs. They played in the first playoff game against the home side Vietnam in what became India's most dominating offensive and defensive performance of the tournament. Using stifling defense, India held Vietnam to just 19 points after the first three quarter as they cruised to a 107-40 victory. Vietnam were no match for India, who dominated the game from start to finish. Ajay Pratap Singh posted 20 points in the first half before being rested for the rest of the game. JP Singh introduced Satnam Singh Bhamara in the third quarter, where the young Center scored a further 19 points. Loveneet Singh scored 20 points for India, while Rakesh Sangwan added 16.

In their last game of the championship, India were set for a rematch against Chinese Taipei for the 9th place. It turned out to be a heartbreaking game for India, as Lu Kuan-Shiuan’s three-pointer, with less than three seconds left in the game, helped Chinese Taipei fashion a resurgent 61-60 win. India held the edge on the scoreboard for the better part of the first half, but Taipei unleashed a 15-2 run through the start of the third quarter and went on to build a 10-point lead. India seemed to recover from that deficit and kept the score close and were ahead 60-58 with 20 seconds left on the clock, when coach JP Singh took a time-out. Taipei having run out of time-outs pounced on the opportunity to plot their play, and after the usual rotation, Wang I-Feng drew the rival defense towards and sent the ball to Lu. Who had had no trouble in firing the match-winner in. I-Feng had 17 points for Taipei, while India were led once again by Satnam Singh Bhamara, who had 29.

Thus, India finished the tournament with a 3-5 record. We were led individually in scoring by Satnam Singh Bhamara, who averaged 19.3 points per game in the course of the championship. What makes it more amazing is that Satnam was only the starting five for perhaps half of the games played. Ajay Pratap Singh (13.1 ppg) and Loveneet Singh (10.3 ppg) were regular offensive options. Rakesh Sangwan and Karthickeyen Saminathan also pitched in valuable contributions for the Indian side.

Of course, there is the disappointing after-taste of 'what could've been?' with many of the games we played. The losses to Korea and Iraq hurt especially, since we were so close so late into these match-ups, and of course, our final seconds loss to Chinese Taipei, after holding on to a two-point lead, didn't settle easy in the stomach either. But the fact that we are getting this close is a marvel in itself. The fact that we defeated Taipei by 21 points in an earlier game, and that we completely destroyed the likes of Malaysia and Vietnam (teams who are close to equal to us) makes me very optimistic.

This is a talented and deep team with good defensive fundamentals, and the likes of Ajay Pratap Singh and Loveneet Singh will be stars to watch for India in the future. Ajay Pratap Singh finished with the best assists average (4 apg) in the entire tournament! And then there is the case of the unpolished but dominating big man, Satnam Singh Bhamara. Still over a month away from his 16th birthday, this seven-footer had a coming-out party at the tournament in Vietnam. It isn't just the points he scored, it was the frequency with which he scored them, even when he was handed limited minutes. At 19.3 ppg, Satnam was the leading scorer of the entire championship!

A student-athlete at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Satnam has had a big year, as he made his debut with India's Senior national team in MAZ Qualifiers in India, and later, was part of the squad that performed poorly at the 26th FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan. His play was very limited in that championship, but amongst his own age group in Vietnam, he was unstoppable. What makes Satnam's improvement so much more amazing is that the youngster seems to continue having a level-head and surprising maturity: In an interview with FIBA, Satnam made it clear that he puts team first. Here are some of his quotes from that interview:

"I only wish I had scored half as many points in any of those games, and we had entered the quarterfinals. Only then my performance can be spoken about."

"I feel a lot more confident now. I am not scared of any situation anymore."

"The way I want to contribute is not only by scoring 40 points, but also stopping 40 points. That way I think my contribution to the team will be more valuable."

Satnam will now return to India, perhaps to take part in an Indian Juniors camp in Delhi, or perhaps to return to the IMG Academy in Florida, USA, straight away. We hope he keeps improving either way, and so do this current Youth team. They could come together again in a year or two when India play in U18 international championship, and we'll see then if this side can learn to find a way of winning more close games.

Congrats again to China, by the way, who are just looking scary good from all angles in basketball right now. China is dominating every Asian-level tournament is taking part in. And the future looks good for them too: it will be a long time before any other basketball playing country in Asia can replace them at the number 1 spot.

Great Moments in Bollywood & Basketball

"Yeh International game hai - Deemag is khela jata hai, gussey sey nahi"

(This is an international game, played by the mind, not with anger).

The wise words above were first spoken by Indian movie superstar Hrithik Roshan as he faced Aishwarya Rai in a 1-on-1 basketball game / flirting session in the film Dhoom 2. Now, I'm sure that the Zen Master aka Phil Jackson would've been very proud of Roshan's 'Zen' advice, but this isn't the only classic moment of Basketball in Bollywood. The Indian film industry, the largest in the world, may not have produced hoop-related classics such as He Got Game, Hoosiers, Rebound, White Men Can't Jump, Space Jam, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, Above The Rim, Basketball Diaries, and etc, etc, etc...

But, inspired by this article by Sportskeeda's Dibyasundar Nayak on the Top 5 Bollywood Movies on Sports (the list included cricket, hockey, football, and cycling), I decided that it was time to reveal to you some great basketball scenes from Hindi movies. Yes, there have been rumours circulating off and on for nearly a year about '4 PM on the Court', India's first basketball movie, but until this film is released, we have to make do with the limited amount of Bollywood Hoops action we have.

So, without further ado, I would like to present to you the Top 3 Great Moments of Bollywood & Basketball. I have embedded the videos, and below them, added my extremely detailed news. All three of the movies mentioned below were superhits, which can only lead me to conclude that Basketball + Bollywood = gold.

3. Koi Mil Gaya (2003)

Dhoom 2 wasn't Roshan's first stint with basketball: that moment belonged to the movie Koi Mil Gaya. Although I haven't had the heart or the motivation to sit through the entire film, I can guess that the story-line was a cross of ET, Forrest Gump, and in the basketball sequence, Space Jam. Basically: Rohit (Hrithik Roshan), a full-grown man of limited intellect, finds an alien called 'Jadoo' who helps him get achieve supernatural things. In this classic 9-minute scene, Roshan's team - the 'Paandavs' - which include him and four children, play a game of basketball for the 'Hero Cup' against the mean-looking 'Kasauli Tigers'. My running notes are below the video:



- There is something about the skin-tight vests on everybody.
- Paandavs have sneaked in the alien 'Jadoo' on to their sideline.
- Good touch in naming the team Paandavs, by the way. The Mahabharat's 5 brothers, five guys on the court.
- Jadoo has given Roshan some ill dribbling skills... Leads me to believe that Allen Iverson may have also had close encounters of the third kind.
- Oh man! Hrithik goes FAAAR above the basket for that 2-handed dunk. His WAIST is aligned with the basket there.
- I know Hrithik's the best player but dammmn he's being selfish out there. This is like Kobe in 2006. Who's Kwame?
- At 1:49 - NBA goaltend, probably legal by FIBA and thus India rules though.
- Good call by the Tigers to FINALLY quintiple team Rohit aka Hrithik.
- HAHAHAHAH 2:20 the Tigers player Freddie Weis'd the little Sardar kid... HAHAHAHAHAH
- Bruce Bowen would be a good fit with the Tigers, specially after 2:50.
- After 3 minute mark.... the kids are jumping but can't release the ball. No travelling call REF!!! What is this? A bunch of LeBrons playing here?
- That's a whole lotta dunks in this game. Now I wanna see Blake Griffin suit up for the Tigers.
- Halftime at 4:09 after a 49-0 tigers run (DAMN!).
- 4:38: AAAh so that explains the shooting slump for the Pandavs. Jadoo cant help them cheat if the sun isn't out.
- And so Roshan prayes to God for sunlight... Obviously no matter how great the Jadoo-led Pandavs become, they will never do well in the NBA indoor stadiums.
- 5:30 onwards... All I can say is DAMMMN!!!!!!
- And now, the Pandavs, who are taking Jordan's 'Air-time' concept to another level, are introducing you to the new unstoppable No-gravity offense.
- 6:56-7:05: Roshan with perhaps the greatest move EVER? He gets the ball at his own free throw line, flies and bounces to dribble once at the halfcourt (this bounce may have been repeated here to show its full awesomeness) and then dunks it in.
- Paadavs have responded with their own 42-0 run to make it 48-49
- Ref didn't call a single shooting foul all game by the way. Good clean fun, this.
- I'm sorry, I take back what i said a minute ago. 7:58 - 8:09 is the greatest move ever. Hrithik intercepts a shot, jumps, does three body flips in mid air to land his feet on top of the oppositions rim, and then drop the game winner. Incredible.
- Not fair, Paandavs cheated and had the alien with them. We need the Tigers to get some assistance. I suggest have Donague bet on them and then officiate the game.
- Cheater Paandavs won the Hero Cup.

2. Dhoom 2 (2006)

And now we arrive to this famous scene in Dhoom 2 that I mentioned earlier: Aishwarya Rai Bachan vs. Hrithik Roshan 1-on-1, a scene vying to be the greatest movie 1-on-1 battle since Ray Allen (Jesus Shuttlesworth) vs. Denzel Washington in He Got Game... Again, this is a movie that I haven't seen in its entirety, but the plot is something about international criminals, most of whom are sexy. In this scene, Rai and Roshan play against each other in the dark, in the rain (for the love of the game, I presume).



- I would also like to mention here that Aishwarya Rai (aka Sunhari) will refer to herself in third-person during the entire duration of this clip.
- Take note boys: If you dribble the basketball in slow motion in the rain, Aishwarya Rai will stare at you.
- Both in Koi Mil Gaya and this one has stayed surprisingly consistent to his basketball-playing gear, which has included a tight vest and trousers. This time though he has a bandana on, which means that he is badass.
- Also to further emphasize that basketball is hip, the director would like you to hear people rapping.
- 0:47: "Hey... Are you like, Checking me out?"
- 1:20: Time to play. Aish strips down to her mini-skirt. Recently, FIBA controversially discussed the idea of more revealing uniforms to sex up the women's game: Aishwarya Rai here is Exhibit A.
- Ok so it's ON!
- Roshan and Aish have their own modified version of flirtatious trash talk that Gary Payton may or may not approve of.
- 2:48: That's a carry Roshan, seriously. I'm serious about him getting as many travel calls as LeBron.
- By the way, Hrithik Roshan doesn't shoot the ball at the basket, he throws it, kind of like I did when I was 8.
- 3:06-3:12: Aish displaying her back to the basket skills.
- 3:20-3:23: Woah, what? Travelling, Aish.
- Roshan can ball but obviously need 'Jadoo' to dunk.
- 4:10-4:20: Some sick handling skills by Roshan, sort of.
- Roshan: "Yeh International game hai - Deemag is khela jata hai, gussey sey nahi". Someone teach him the Triangle Offense already, he already has the attitude!
- If you haven't gotten it yet, they aren't talking about basketball, they're talking about crime. Which is also an international game, played by the mind, not with anger, apparently.
- 5:46: Money shot!

1. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)

Aah.. We're now at the main event. This one movie single-handedly turned a whole legion of young Indians to take basketball a little more seriously. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is one of India's greatest romantic classics, and this particular scene features a basketball game between two former friends who find and love each other later in their lives. This is the only movie of the three featured here that I have seen fully. So it's Shah Rukh Khan, one of India's biggest stars ever as Rahul vs. Kajol (Anjali). When they were in college, they were best friends, and she used to kick his ass. Now, they have a frosty relationship, but maybe hoops are going to bring them closer together. Let the love and basketball resume.



- I'm getting a flashback. The two kids are actually pretending to fight to make the two main characters play ball again and thus, eventually become close again.
- The debate within the kids and the adults here is: Can girls play ball? I think we're about to find out.
- 1:13-16 Kajol challenges him - it's ON!
- 1:50: And they're FINALLY on the court. I guess it's going to be a full-court 1-on-1. Although this looks like a small court.
- Yes, before you ask, Shah Rukh is going to keep his tie on.
- And yes, Kajol is playing in a Sari and barefoot. Man, I wonder what David Stern and the NBA's strict dress code regulations have to say about this.
- 2:10-2:15: Flirtatious trash talk during basketball is obviously something us Indians are great at.
- There is obviously no one to referee in this game, and Shah Rukh is being allowed to commit multiple violations in each possession.
- 3:20: Kajol steals the ball, but then has to fix her sari before the jump-shop. #IndiaBasketball
- Are they both shooting at the same basket. Wtf?
- 3:33-3:36 Oh no he didn't. If Ginobili was Kajol in a Sari, he would've flopped at that gentle touch of the waist and won the foul right there.
- 3:58: Shah Rukh Khan has clearly learnt dribbling from the finest.
- 4:03: DAMN she tripped him! REFF!!!! That's a potentially career-ending type of foul. Andrew Bynum would be proud.
- 4:40 onwards: Hahahah... So this part is, basically, "Let's all mock the Loser Girl while she stands sadly in the middle of the court."
- Of course, it all ends up all well and good, and hoops makes them friends again.

So that's it folks. Basketball helped underdog kids and Hrithik outdo the 'bullies' with magic, helped two young criminals spark a special friendship, and brought back two friends closer together again.

Moral of the story: Basketball in Bollywood, Bringing People Together. And ensuring blockbuster movies.

India’s U16 Boys’ Basketball team for 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship in Vietnam

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has announced the 12-member squad of youth players who will represent the country at the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship in Nha Trang City, Vietnam, from October 18-28th, 2011.

India, who qualified for this championship after defeating Nepal and Sri Lanka in qualifiers in New Delhi in August, have been slotted in Group A of the FIBA Asia U16 Championship along with reigning champions China, Malaysia, and Chinese Taipei.

India’s squad will be highlighted by young star players such as Punjab’s Loveneet Singh and Chhattisgarh’s Ajay Pratap Singh. Additionally, Punjab’s 15-year-old 7-foot-2-inch player Satnam Singh Bhamara, who was part of India’s Senior Men’s team at the FIBA Asia Championship in China last month, will also be part of the U16 side. India’s coaching contingent will be led by head coach Jai Prakash Singh.

India’s U16 Boys Basketball Team for 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship

Abhishek Rai

Khusmeet Singh Atwal

Karthickeyan Saminathan

Rakesh Singh Sangwan

Loveneet Singh

Sanjeev Kumar

Narender Satyawan

Syed Anam Ali

Akimjeet Singh Sohal

Pankaj Rathee

Ajay Pratap Singh

Satnam Singh Bhamara

Head Coach: Jai Prakash Singh

Coach: JN Nehra

Coach: Divya Singh

Physiotherapist: Nilesh Shah

FIBA Referee: Manoj Kotian

FIBA Referee: Zanim Mohd. Hashim

FIBA Commissioner: Naresh Aneja

India will tip off their campaign against holders China on Tuesday, October 18th. India will face Malaysia and Chinese Taipei on the 19th and 20th of October, respectively. The Second Round of the tournament will begin on Saturday, October 22nd. The Final is scheduled to be held on Friday, October 28th. The Indian Boys’ team is currently ranked 45th in the FIBA World Rankings.

Click here for Complete Preliminary Round Schedule.

India wins double gold at South Asian Beach Games 3x3 Basketball in Sri Lanka

It was double success for India’s 3-on-3 (3x3) basketball teams at the 1st South Asian Beach Games (SABG) in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday, as both the Indian Men and Women won the gold medal after defeating Sri Lanka and Maldives in their respective finals. Both of India’s basketball squads finished the three-day competition undefeated, with 4-0 records.

Although real Beach Basketball is played on sand, the competition at the SABG showcased an outdoor version of the 3x3 basketball format, a modified version of the game which is played in the half-court. Each team is allowed just three players on the court and the 10-minute game can only go up to a maximum of 21 points.

In the Men’s final, Sri Lanka took a confident start, but India quickly fought back and held on to a three point lead at halftime. Behind eight points by Jagdeep Singh, India extended their lead to clinch the win, 21-16.

Earlier, on Sunday and Monday, India’s Men’s side had won all three of their group games, defeating Maldives, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka.

India also dominated the women’s final, defeating Maldives by 17-7 on Tuesday evening. India’s Women’s side had also won all their earlier games on the previous two days, defeating Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Final Standings

Men

1. India
2. Sri Lanka
3. Maldives

Women

1. India
2. Maldives
3. Sri Lanka

2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship schedule of games

NHA TRANG CITY, Vietnam The schedule of games for the Preliminary Round of the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship has been announced. Defending champions China will take on SAARC qualifiers India, while 2009 FIBA Asia U16 Championship silver medalists Korea match wits with WABA U16 Champions Iraq on the opening day.

Hosts Vietnam will play their first ever FIBA Asia competition game against fellow SEABA team Indonesia; 2009 FIBA Asia U16 Championship Iran take on GCC team and debutants Qatar; Lebanon, who also will make their maiden appearance will take on another debutants Uzbekistan in other contests of the opening day, which will tip off with a game between Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Click here for Complete Preliminary Round Schedule.

India have been placed in Group A of the tournament, along with China, Malaysia, and Chinese Taipei.

India’s Schedule of Preliminary Round Games (Timings will be local)

Tuesday, October 18th – 2100: India vs. China

Wednesday, October 19th – 2100: India vs. Malaysia

Thursday, October 20th – India vs. Chinese Taipei

The Second Round of the tournament will begin on Saturday, October 22nd. The Final is scheduled to be held on Friday, October 28th.

FIBA Asia will run a special event website http://nhatrang2011.fibaasia.net during the event.

62nd National Basketball Championship for Men & Women will be in Chennai from December 16-24, 2011

The 62nd National Basketball Championship for Men & Women will be organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Tamil Nadu Basketball Association (TNBA) from December 16th-24th at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

The 'Senior Nationals' are the biggest event in the domestic basketball calender in India: India's top teams and players will be participating in this event in both the Men's and Women's sections, showcasing the finest talent of hoops in the country.

Chennai last hosted the 23rd FIBA Asia Championship for Women in 2009. One of the most basketball-loving cities in the country, Chennai will feature strong host teams and local-based stars.

All participating member units are requested to confirm the participation of their Men/Women team(s) to the Chairman, Technical Commission latest by 15th November, 2011.

The last National Championship was held in New Delhi, and was won once again by Indian Railways in both the Men's and Women's divisions.

BFI announces India’s basketball contingent at 1st South Asian Beach Games in Sri Lanka

The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) will send both Men and Women Senior basketball teams to the 1st South Asian Beach Games that will be held in Hanbantota, Sri Lanka, from October 8-16, 2011. India will be amongst eight South Asian countries taking part in the Games, and the 3x3 Beach Basketball tournament from October 9-11 will feature four-player contingents sent from India in both the Men’s and the Women’s divisions. In addition, India will also be sending three FIBA officials to this event.

Hosts Sri Lanka will welcome Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan to the 2011 South Asian Beach Games, which will feature competitions in 12 sports: Beach Basketball, Beach Football, Beach Handball, Beach Kabbadi, Beach Netball, Beach Volleyball, Beach Body Building, Equestrian, Life Saving, Sailing, Swimming, and Triathlon.

The Beach Basketball tournament will be a modified 3-on-3 version of basketball, played with regulations similar to the FIBA 3x3 rules. Each team will have three starting players and one substitute.

The Indian Women’s contingent will be led by Pete Gaudet, the experienced American head coach of India’s National Senior Women’s team. Mr. Rajinder Singh will be leading the charge for India’s Men’s squad. Both the Men’s and Women’s teams will consist of some of the players who represented India in the 24th FIBA Asia Championship for Women in Japan and the 26th FIBA Asia Championship in China, respectively.

Indian Teams for the Beach Basketball competition at the 1st South Asian Beach Games in Hanbantota (Sri Lanka) – October 8-16, 2011:

Men

Yadwinder Singh

Jagdeep Singh

Vishesh Bhriguvanshi

Talwinderjit Singh Sahi

Coach: Rajinder Singh

Women

Geethu Anna Jose

Anitha Paul Durai

Raspreet Sidhu

Prashanti Singh

Coach: Pete Gaudet

Officials

Naresh Chander Aneja

Rajan Vellingirinathan

Anupam Sharma

Draw completed for 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship

Defending champions China were drawn with fellow East Asian team Chinese Taipei, Middle Asia’s India and SEABA’s Malaysia in Group A for the Preliminary Round of the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship to be held in Nha Trang City in Vietnam from Oct 18-28, 2011.

The draw was conducted at the Media Conference Room at the Wuhan Sports Center in Wuhan (China) on Sunday, the final day of the 26th FIBA Asia Championship.

Group B involves Korea, who lost to China in the final of the inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Championship at Johor Bahru (Malaysia) two years ago, along with two WABA teams Iraq and Lebanon and Uzbekistan.

Iran, the bronze medalists from Johor Bahru lead the fray in Group C also comprising Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

With only 15 teams in fray, Group D will see only three teams and all-SEABA affair – Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

“It is a great significance that we are conducting this draw for the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship on the final day of the 26th FIBA Asia Championship,” said FIBA Asia president Sheikh Saud bin Ali Al-Thani who presided over the draw proceedings.

“The 26th FIBA Asia Championship will decide the champion team of FIBA Asia, while the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship will throw up the stars for the future,” he said.

FIBA Asia will run a special event website http://nhatrang2011.fibaasia.net during the event.

Groupings for the Preliminary Round

Group A: China, India, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei

Group B: Korea, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Lebanon

Group C: Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Japan

Group D: Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam

India’s U16 side qualified for the championship after defeating Nepal and Sri Lanka in qualifiers in New Delhi in August

About 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship

The 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship is the qualifying event for the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship to be played in Lithuania from July 17-26, 2012.

The top two teams from the 2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship will represent FIBA Asia at Lithuania.

System of Competition

The 16 teams are pooled into four groups of four teams each for the Preliminary Round.

The top three teams from each group will advance to the Second Round, and will be drawn into two groups of six teams each.

In the Second Round, each team will carry forward the results against the other qualifying teams in their Preliminary Round group and will play against teams qualifying from the other Preliminary Round group. The top four teams from each Second Round will qualify for the Quarterfinals, from which stage it will be a knockout.

NF Railway organises invitational basketball tournament in Assam

Six top Indian basketball clubs, featuring some famous names, will be in Maligaon in Guwahahi (Assam) this week for the an All India Invitational Basketball Championship organised North-East Frontier Railway Sports Association (NFRSA). The tournament (September 25-29th) at the NFRSA Indoor Stadium will be one of the biggest basketball showcases in the North-East of India.

The participating teams are: ONGC (Dehradun), Indian Overseas Bank (Chennai), BSF (Jalandhar), Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala), Assam Regiment (Shillong) and hosts NFRSA. The six teams have been divided into two groups and the championship will be conducted on a league-cum-knock-out basis.

Here's more via The Assam Tribune Online:

Leading national level cagers, who also represented the country in international championships like Arjun Singh, Gagan Deep Singh, Suresh Kumar, Pratham Singh, Hanuman Singh, Virendra, Murali Krishna are representing their respective teams in this tournament which has been recognised by Basketball Federation of India.
The six teams have been divided into two groups and the championship will be conducted on a league-cum-knock-out basis.

2011 FIBA ABC Review: China win final over Jordan; India end 14th

Oh, it was all good just a few weeks ago. In India's first game at the 2011 FIBA Asia Basketball Championship, we held a seven point lead in the final quarter over Lebanon, a team ranked 26 places above us in the FIBA world rankings. We ended up losing that game, by the way, and then, losing everything else that came in our way. A week later, our campaign ended with a loss to Indonesia as we finished the championship at 14th place. That was a depressing finish to my cautiously optimistic hopes before the tournament. Now, the tournament is over, and after weeks of unpredictable and exciting basketball, there is a familiar name at the top of the rankings.

In front of an electric crowd in Wuhan, hosts China rose to the top of FIBA Asia after a silver medal two years ago by edging out the tough Jordan side 70-69 in a classic final of the championship on Sunday. Led by tournament MVP Yi Jianlian, China claimed the gold medal and booked their place in the 2012 Olympic Games basketball tournament in London.

The final win was a culmination of a perfect 9-0 record in the competition. China lifted the FIBA ABC trophy for the 15th time.

Jordan walked out of the arena with their heads held high having entered the gold medal game for the first time. Jordan did extremely well beyond expectations to keep the contest even till the final buzzer. Despite finishing 2nd in their preliminary round group, and fourth in the second round group, Jordan did the impossible by defeating last year's champs Iran in a classic Quarter Final and then getting a win over a strong Philippines side in the Semis.

For China, Yi accounted for 11 of his team-high 25 points in the third quarter. Yi also had 16 points in the final. Yi continues to confound me, as he is such a dominant force back home but a super-flop in the NBA. Supposed to be China's next big thing after Yao, Yi has bounced around 3 NBA teams in the past four years, and has put up just 8.5 ppg in the course of his career, where he has never been able to earn major NBA minutes. He had his worst year with the Wizards last season, playing only 17.7 minutes a game and putting up just 5.6 ppg. He comes back home and completely DOMINATES Asia, averaging 16.6 ppg and 10.8 rpg as MVP of the championship.

Rasheim Wright was at the vanguard of the Jordanian cause in the Final with a game-high 26 points.

Earlier on Sunday, the 3rd/4th place match-up between Korea and Philippines was also a nail biting affair, won by Korea 70-68. Sungmin Cho led the way for Korea with 20 points. The high-scorers for Philippines were Marcus Douthit (27) and Jim Alapag (17).

Final Standings:

1. China

2. Jordan

3. Korea

4. Philippines

5. Iran

All Tournament Team:

PG: Osama Daghles (Jordan)

SG: Takuya Kawamura (Japan)

SF: Samad Nikkah Bahrami (Iran)

PF: Yi Jianlian (China) - MVP

C: Hamed Haddadi (Iran)

Meanwhile, the Indian contingent completed the tournament with a 1-4 record to end at 14th place. That record is misleading, by the way, because India didn't exactly 'win' a single game at the tournament: we were handed a victory in our 13-16 classification game over Qatar without even playing them. Qatar were made to forfeit their games after their players 'deliberately lost' a couple of earlier games after five of their players were disqualified without proper nationality documentation.

And we started off as well as we possibly could! Grouped with tough Lebanon and Korea, and with Malaysia, a team we were expected to beat, India needed just one win to move on to the next round. India played without a consistent starting lineup: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Jagdeep Singh, and Yadwinder Singh were our regular starters, and the other two places were rotated between Hareesh Koroth, TJ Sahi, and Trideep Rai.

We almost got our one win unexpectedly, against Lebanon. After trailing by 13 at the end of halftime, India went on an epic third quarter run, perhaps the finest quarter of basketball played by the Indian men's team in recent history, as they outscored the superpower Lebanon 32-14 behind a barrage of three and two pointers by Hareesh Koroth and TJ Sahi.

Less than two minutes away from the final buzzer, India held a one-point lead and were on the verge of making history. But a heroic performance by Lebanon's Jean Abd El Nour denied India its chance at history, as Lebanon survived to win 71-68. El Nour scored eight of his game-high 24 points in the dying minutes of the game to defeat the enthusiastic Indian outfit.

Hareesh Koroth had 20 points for India and TJ Sahi added 18.

The game against Malaysia the next night was to be our make or break game: we are ranked much higher than them, and if we had won, we would've immediately improved to our 13th place ranking from 2009 and had a chance to move into the final 12. But an end game burst by Malaysia saw them emerge as 71-67 winners and virtually clinched their place in the second round, giving India another last-minute heartbreak.

The game swung back and forth like a pendulum: India fell back once again at halftime in this match-up trailing to their opponents by 16 points at the break. But once again, India showed their third-quarter resolve, outscoring Malaysia 24-12 in the period and bringing the game close again. The fourth quarter see-sawed between both the sides, and with the game tied in the final minutes, lower-ranked Malaysia made a final run to edge out a close win.

Malaysia were led by Ban Sin Ooi, who scored 20 points in the game, although the game's best individual performance came from India's experienced big man Jagdeep Singh Bains, who had a heroic 25 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

We were never expected to challenge Korea in our final group game, and we didn't: Korea scored the first eight points of the game and only grew in strength thereafter before romping through for a 84-53 win against India on Saturday to complete their Group A engagements with an all-win record. It was India's third consecutive loss in the tournament, which saw them finish at the bottom of the group and eliminated from the second round.

Trideep Rai’s 11 points was the only double digit score for India. Despite the disappointment, coach Natt looked at the positives after the game and commented: "We have a long way in terms of going anywhere in Asian competitions. But I think we are making a start with this young team."

Out of the Second Round and forced to settle for 13-16 qualification, India got a lucky break when we were handed a 20-0 win against Qatar because of the forfeit. We played Indonesia in the 13/14th place match, a team that, with all of our revamped efforts we should've defeated. But like our effort against Malaysia earlier, we once again came up short. India trailed most of the way in the competitive game and failed to close the gap between the two sides, as Indonesia won 84-75.

India’s sharp-shooter Hareesh Koroth continued his bright showing at the championship, with 22 points off the bench to lead all scorers in the game. India were close the whole game, and trailed by just seven points at halftime. Indonesia continued to slowly extend their lead, and a decent fourth quarter by the Indian side was a little too late to prevent the loss.

This tournament was the first large scale international exposure for the Indian team under new NBA coach Kenny Natt. Despite the low ranking, India showed flashes of their potential under the new coach, highlighted with the near-upset of Lebanon in their first game. It's tough to say why we under-performed against Malaysia and Indonesia, but perhaps the near-slaying of the giants Lebanon, and the eventual loss, may have been crushed the players' spirits a bit.

This tournament also gave the chance to several young Indian players to gain valuable experience, and the likes of Amjyot Singh and Amrit Pal Singh stepped up to make their contributions to the squad. Amjyot is the one player who really excites me for the future: playing limited minutes of the bench, Amjyot led India in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and had several important hustle points. Amjyot also averaged 1.8 blocks per game, good enough for second-place in the tournament, only to Iran's Hamed Haddadi, who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies!

With 1.8 steals per game, India's TJ Sahi finished at joint first place with Sun Yue (China), Osama Daghles (Jordan), and Ibrahim Ahmad (UAE) in steals average.

Our best player was Hareesh Koroth, who led the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) and was our only consistent scoring threat. Jagdeep Singh played pretty well, too, averaging 12.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg in the championship.

The biggest disappointment was Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, our former captain and a personal favourite of mine. Playing major minutes, and usually, a major offensive force, Vishesh had 17 points TOTAL in the tournament, averaging just 4.3 points per game shooting an awful 16 perfect from the field. Ugh!

All the stats above, by the way, were compiled by Siddharth Sharma for SportsKeeda.

At the end, our ranking actually fell one place from 13th to 14th this year. So, where do we go from here? I made a note in a post last week about India's glaring weakness - the point guard position - and Coach Kenny Natt's desperate need to find a consistent general to lead our side. Beyond that, the future doesn't look too bad for us, actually. This tournament ended on a sad note, but we have a *very* young squad who will only get stronger with this experience. I am talking about our young under 20 bigs Amjyot and Amrit Pal who are on a fast-track to improvement. And of course there's 15 year old Satnam Singh Bhamara, who got limited minutes in the tournament but will be better off with the exposure of this big stage.

Natt had only a few months with this team to not only raise the talent level of the players at hand, but to also attempt to change the culture and improve the system of hoops in India. With this championship over, he now has two more years until the next one, two more years to train the future crop of Indian players, and to help us make that long-awaited 'baby step' improvement on the international stage.

Congrats for the win China; and India will be looking forward to 2013.

Maharashtra Boys; Chhattisgarh Girls win 2011 Sub Jr. National Basketball Championship

Basketball fans in Lucknow were given a visual treat on Friday evening as the best under-14 teams from around India clashed in the Finals of the 38th Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls in the city’s RDSO court. Eight days of exciting hoops action ended in fitting manner as the boys’ final saw Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra fight neck-no-neck in a classic final, which was finally won by Maharashtra. The Girls’ championship was a repeat of last year’s final between Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, and for the seventh consecutive year, it was Chhattisgarh who emerged as Sub Jr champions.

Basketball fans couldn’t have asked for a better final than the face-off between Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh Boys, two teams with contrasting but effective styles. The teams stayed close throughout: Andhra Pradesh using taking advantage of their length and speed, while Maharashtra relied on their skill and passing. AP had a slim, one point lead at the end of the half, but couldn’t extend on the advantage: neither side was able to go over more than four point of their opponent for the majority of the game.

With the game reaching its last moments, Maharashtra had overturned the score and had a three point lead in the fourth quarter, thanks to their talented guards who penetrated and passed very well all night. AP made some crucial mistakes in the end, and Maharashtra’s Zaid Shaikh pulled out big, level-headed plays to give his side a 61-58 win and the National championship.

“We had practiced very hard for this championship, and came ready to dominate,” said Shaikh, “We had beaten AP in a blowout early in this championship, so we had to be wary of their backlash tonight. Luckily, we were able to play well in the end and win – our team’s strength was our great combination.”

M. Siva Durga of AP led all scorers in the final with 16 points.

The girls’ final was a repeat of last year’s final between Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. Chhattisgarh Girls have been an unstoppable force in the Sub-Junior level, and win another big victory on Friday, won their 10th championship in 11 years. Chhattisgarh, who have been the best team in the competition, were in no mood for a slip-up in the final, as they started strong and refused to slow down against their opponents. Saving their best defensive performance for the finale, Chhattisgarh outscored Karnataka 36-7 in a devastating first half.

Chhattisgarh’s defense focused around stopping Karnataka’s Lopamudra, who had been the best individual player in the girls’ section in the tournament. With Lopa on check, Chhattisgarh were able to cruise in the second half and celebrate their seventh consecutive Sub-Junior national title with a 64-21 victory. Riya Verma led Chhattisgarh in the final with 23 points.

“We are a strong team because we are very united,” said P. Divya, the captain of the Chhattisgarh side, “We were prepared for this team because we had defeated them in the final last year, and in this year’s tournament, we knew that our team was too strong for any opponent.”

Earlier on Friday, the 3rd/4th place games were held: In the boys’ game, Punjab overcame a slow start against Chhattisgarh to make a strong comeback and win 70-47. Punjab were led by Guksewala (21 points) and Abhi (16). For Chhattisgarh, Mithun, who had scored 46 points in a loss to AP in the semi-final only the previous night, led the scoring charge of his team with 18 points in the 3rd/4th place playoff.

In the girls’ game, Maharashtra played a strong second quarter to overturn the score against Kerala and then race to a 48-37 win to clinch third place. Maharashtra were led by Veera who had 16 points.

Mr. V Ramachandran, the Director-General of RDSO, was the chief guest at the final and handed out the prize-winners trophies. “I was very glad to see the talent on display here and wish to see many of these players representing India one day,” said Ramachandran, “My best wishes go out to all those who took part in this championship. I would also like to thank the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA), and RDSO for conducting this big event.

For the first time in the Sub-Junior nationals, individual prizes were given for the Most Promising Players of the tournament. With the award, the individual players were also given a cash prize of Rs. 5000 each. The awards were given to:

Boys: M. Shiva Durga (Andhra Pradesh)
Girls: Riya Verma (Chhattisgarh)

Final Scores

Boys: Maharashtra (Shaikh Zaid 13, Astekar Aditya 12, Shaikh Mearaj 11, Shaikh Hammd 11) bt. Andhra Pradesh (M.Siva Durga 16, B.Neeraj Kumar 11, P.Durga Prasad 10) 61-58 (18-15, 13-17, 14-10, 16-16)

Girls: Chhattisgarh (Riya Verma 23, P.Divya 12) bt. Karnataka 64-21 (23-6, 13-1, 7-2, 21-12)

3rd/4th Place Matches

Boys: Punjab (Guksewala 21, Abhi 16, Sukhder 13) bt. Chhattisgarh (Mithun 18, Hitesh 12) 70-47 (10-15, 15-9, 19-9, 26-14)

Girls: Maharashtra (Veera 16) bt. Kerala (Aleena 14) 48-37 (10-12, 12-4, 12-10, 14-11)

Finals Standings

Boys
1. Maharashtra
2. Andhra Pradesh
3. Punjab

Girls
1. Chhattisgarh
2. Karnataka
3. Maharashtra

Nawabketball? Lucknow has its own special liaison with hoops

Known to most as the ‘City of Nawabs’, Lucknow is a city that has popular across the country for its history of Kings and Nawabs, for its ‘Chikan’ embroidery, for its amazing monuments, its literature and poetry, its mouth-watering kebabs and biryanis, and its welcoming, secular culture. In the area of sports, the capital of Uttar Pradesh has had a distinguished history in providing some famous names to India’s most popular sport (cricket) and its national sport (hockey).

But few know that this city holds a special liaison with basketball, too. For the past week, the RDSO basketball courts in Lucknow have been hosting the 38th Sub Junior National Basketball Championship; but let’s turn back the chapters in the pages of history to the year 1978, when the first basketball court was constructed in the RDSO ground.

This ground holds special significance for hoops aficionados, because, not long after the construction of this new court, the Indian National Basketball team played a match here against the squad from ‘Athletes in Action’, a popular touring basketball team from the USA.

From that first court, both RDSO and the culture of hoops in the city have come a long way. “Basketball is growing a lot in this city, but things could certainly get better,” says Pankaj Singh, the former Secretary of the Lucknow District Basketball Association (LDBA), “Of course, the main sport here is cricket, which is popular everywhere in this city. And Lucknow also has a great history in hockey.”

Basketball may not have produced stars from the city like Cricket or Hockey did, but in terms of local success at the state and national level, the game hasn’t been far behind. “Lucknow is one of the oldest cities with a basketball culture in the country,” claims Bhupendra Shahi, the General-Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Basketball Association (UPBA), “At this point, there must be around 70-80 good basketball courts around Lucknow: it is a city with several good convent schools and they all boast a court.”

At the senior level, Lucknow also has a five teams which represent the city in State championships: RDSO, Lucknow District, Lucknow University, UP Police, and Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL). Lucknow is one of the few districts in UP which constantly fields strong basketball teams, along with Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, and Allahabad.

The current RDSO squad, which has been UP champions over the past three years, is littered with several players who have played at the national level.

Shahi also recalls a great period from the mid 70s to the early 90s where UP Police were the most dominating team in the state, winning consecutive championships for almost two decades.

Lucknow has also produced a few players who have gone on to represent the Indian Basketball team at the international level. Past stars include Abhinav Singh amd Shagun Singh. Currently, Rakesh Yadav has been a regular feature in India’s international team camps.

And the epicenter of hoops activity in the city is back where we began: at the RDSO courts, where the Sub-Jr. Nationals are now. There are now three courts at the RDSO grounds – the last two were constructed in 1986. “The main RDSO building is also now being renovated,” adds Shahi.

Here in these courts, a total of nine All-India Inter-Railway basketball championships have been played, and three pre-Asian championships with the Indian national teams have been held, too. The 38th Sub-Jr Nationals are also the third National Basketball championship being held in Lucknow: in 1986, RDSO hosted the Senior Nationals, and in 2007, the Youth Nationals were held here. The courts have also hosted half a dozen state championships.

But what excites Shahi more about the city’s basketball story is its future: “We have started a day-boarding scheme at the SAI Center in the KD Singh Babu Stadium in the city,” Shahi says, “All of our Junior level kids practice here and improve their game under good SAI coaches. The improving performance of our junior players at the national level is proof of this.”

The current Uttar Pradesh Sub-Jr team, featuring several youngsters from Lucknow, continued that tradition of steady improvement for the state. The boys’ team in particular improved their standing from 7th place in 2010 to 5th place this time around, a placing which doesn’t tell the full story of the exciting basketball and hard-work that the youngsters brought to the championship.

N Shiv Kumar, a former national-level basketball player and current RDSO employee, has spent 19 years in Lucknow, and soon after retiring from the game of basketball, got his first chance at coaching in the nationals when he was handed the help of the UP Sub-Jr Boys team in this year’s Nationals. This team has four players who hail from the city of Lucknow itself, and the girls’ team had six local players.

Speaking on the boys’ squad, Kumar said: “This team has played well in the championship. And some of these young players have a lot of potential.”

Kumar does admit that teams who practice and play in Lucknow will tend to struggle when they leave state to play in national championships in other parts of the country, a reason he attributes to the lack of an indoor court in the city. “Lucknow is badly in need of an indoor court,” said Kumar, “Most of the Nationals are now taking place in indoor courts: our players, who spend most of their time practicing outdoors, struggle to adapt at the national level.”

There were plans to build an indoor court several years ago at the RDSO grounds, says Kumar, but the plans soon went awry as the government funds were allocated to other sports.

Basketball in the city needs a boost, and the next step in this city of great cultural and special hoops history would be the construction of an indoor court. The city’s burgeoning basketball-loving public await the day when a new court is build at the RDSO, and they can host an event as spectacular as the Indian national team and the Athletes In Action once again!